Privacy and Security Policy

Overview

Privacy and security is of great concern to most users of the Internet, and is a critical part of an enjoyable and satisfactory user experience. The City of St. Louis is aware of and sensitive to the privacy concerns of visitors to our web site. We want to assure you that we do not collect personal information from you unless you provide it to us.

Please note that our site contains links to other sites. City of St. Louis and stlouis-mo.gov is not responsible for the privacy practices, privacy statements or content regarding these other sites.

On This Page

Privacy Statement

stlouis-mo.gov is committed to providing you with excellent service. We respect your right to privacy, and have developed this Privacy Statement to inform you about our privacy practices for the stlouis-mo.gov website. Since the stlouis-mo.gov in addition to a community network is also the City of St. Louis Official web site, it's important that you understand our privacy position.

Questions regarding this Privacy Statement should be directed to the stlouis-mo.gov website manager. Please specify "Internet Privacy Statement" in the subject line of your e-mail. If you do not receive a reply from us or if you believe that your inquiry has not been satisfactorily resolved, please contact us at 314 657-1288.

Information We Automatically Collect and Receive

Some information is automatically collected when you visit www.stlouis-mo.gov. As with many websites, we use server logs, cookies, metadata, and geocodes. This information does not identify you personally.

The information automatically collected may include, but is not limited to:

• the domain name of your Internet Service Provider and/or your computer
• the IP address from which you access our website
• your browser type (e.g., Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, or Mozilla Firefox)
• your operating system (e.g., Windows, Mac, Android)
• the type of device you are using
• the date and time you accessed our services
• location data
• the pages you visited, as well as any applications or forms used, and
• the Uniform Resource Locator (“URL”) of the webpage that linked you to our Services.

We do not collect this information to provide targeted advertising. We collect this information in order to help us better analyze and improve our digital City services. This information allows us to learn how many visitors we have, where they are coming from, and which of our services are of most interest to users. We analyze traffic to our services in various ways, including using third-party services.

Use of Cookies

We use "persistent cookies"

We use "temporary cookies" on some parts of St. Louis stlouis-mo.gov, and such temporary cookies expire upon the end of the browsing session.

The use of cookies is a standard practice among Internet web sites. Most Internet web browsers may be customized to reject cookies, to only accept or reject cookies by user intervention, or to delete cookies. Rejecting and/or removing cookies, however, may lead to loss of functionality on selected pages requiring cookies to function fully.

To find more information about cookies visit https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Cookies

Information We Gather from You

Personal Information

We do not collect any personal information from a visitor to our site unless that visitor explicitly and intentionally provides it. Under no circumstances do we collect any personal data revealing political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, health status, or sexual orientation. If you are simply browsing our site, we do not gather any personal information about you.

There are several ways in which you affirmatively provide us with, and consent to our collection of certain personal information:

User Submissions

Some of our digital City services allow users to submit suggestions, comments, or requests to us.  This could be by emailing us, filling out an online form to provide comments and suggestions, or reporting a problem.  This data may include personally identifiable information such as name and email address.  We will use the information you send us to respond. We may also direct your message to another government agency that can help in addressing your request.

User Accounts

Some digital City services involves the creation of user accounts. Creating an account may involve the submission of personally identifiable information.  This could include a username, password, email address, mailing address, telephone number, full name, employment and training history, etc. 

We do not use this information to send to commercial and marketing messages. We may use this information to provide you with government services.

Third-party Services

The City and elected offices contracts with third-parties for certain services, like:

• web traffic monitoring and website optimization
• form submissions and workflow tools
• financial transactions
• Procurement/bid management

Some user accounts created on contracted third-party systems maybe linked with other third-party websites, such as social media networks. To link your accounts, you must provide your display name or user ID to those third-party websites.  You may also be required to engage in an authorization process with each of those websites. We do not receive or store your password from those websites.

Whenever you use a third-party service, you are also agreeing to that service's Privacy Policy.

The City of St. Louis website (stlouis-mo.gov) uses YouTube API Services to help retrieve and display YouTube videos and video information. The data used is all publicly-available information, including the following for videos and playlists: titles, descriptions, IDs, channel IDs, and thumbnails. 

Usage of YouTube videos and YouTube video information is subject to the YouTube terms of service. The City of St. Louis does not access, use, or collect any personal information in its use of YouTube API Services, but Google may do so. Please reference the Google Privacy Policy for more information on how Google might use your personal data when interacting with its services. 

If you have questions about if a digital City service involves a third -party service, contact the web team.

What Happens After You Provide Personal Information

Our intention in collecting information is to provide users with smooth and efficient digital City service experiences. However, because we are a government agency, there are a few important things to note.

Sending You Responses and Updates

We generally respond to any e-mail questions, requests for services, and other inquiries that we receive. We may also retain this correspondence to improve our services, and website, and for other disclosed purposes. We may retain contact information so that we can send individual updates or other important information.

Information Storage

Retention of records follows the City's records retention schedule. Retention timelines can vary depending on what kind of information you provide.

Sharing Information

We may share information or statistics with third parties or the public in an anonymous form that does not directly identify you. This would typically be done to assess a digital City service. No personally identifiable information would be  released. 

Additionally, if a user is having issues with a digital City service, we may share information with outside parties to the extent necessary to troubleshoot the issues or enhance the performance of the system. 

Public Records

As a municipal government, the City of St. Louis is a public governmental body subject to Chapter 610 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri, commonly known as the Sunshine Law. If an appropriate request is made to the City for information that is subject to disclosure by the Sunshine Law, the City of St. Louis may be required to disclose the information requested, even if it may include your personally identifiable information.

More information on Sunshine Law and/or Public Records Requests

If We Are Required to Disclose by Law

Under certain circumstances we may be required by law to disclose certain information to law enforcement authorities. Suspicious email, electronic threats, and any information on illegal activity will be provided to the appropriate authority.

Children’s Information

Our digital City services are intended for use by adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 years of age. However, we also do not try to determine whether a visitor is underage, therefore users should be aware that personally identifiable information submitted to stlouis-mo.gov by minors will be treated as information given by an adult and may become subject to Sunshine Law and/or Public Records Requests. If you are a parent or legal guardian of a child under the age of 13 who you believe has submitted personal information by use of our Services, please contact the web team immediately.

Surveys

From time-to-time we may request information from residents and other constituents via surveys. Participation in these surveys is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice whether or not to disclose this information. Survey information will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving the use of, and satisfaction with this website, and improving our services.

Our Security Procedures

We consider the protection of all personally identifiable information we receive from our website visitors as critical. Please be assured that we have security measures in place to protect against the loss, misuse, and alteration of any information we receive from you. As with any transmission over the Internet, however, there is always some element of risk involved in sending personal information.

Changes to This Privacy and Security Policy

City of St. Louis may change this policy from time to time, and reserves the right to do so without notice.